“A Bridge of Understanding”: Get Engaged 2024 Connects Students & Prepares them for Community Action

“This is the right conference for leadership growth and becoming a global citizen. It taught me that I am a changemaker,” writes one of the 49 enthusiastic student leaders who attended the 11th Get Engaged Student Action and Youth Leadership Conference in Berlin last week, hosted by Bard College Berlin and the Hertie School.

The annual gathering, organized by the Civic Engagement Initiative in partnership with the Bard College Berlin Civic Engagement Office and the Bard College Center for Civic Engagement, brought together participants from 22 partner institutions representing 50 different countries.

Building a Global Community Engagement Network
 
Erin Cannan, Vice President for Civic Engagement at Bard College, has been leading the Get Engaged Conference for 11 years. “It’s what we all look forward to each year,” says Cannan. While she’s seen it grow since the first conference in 2014, there are some things that never change. “Meeting others that are so different creates an opening of the heart that takes you across a bridge of understanding. Once you know it, it’s something that can’t be undone. It’s always with you.”

Students applied to the conference in fall 2023 and have met and been working together online as a lead up to the conference. Civic Engagement Coordinators on each campus played a key role in selecting and preparing students for the conference.
 
The conference focuses on building a global network of student leaders who are equipped to act in and tangibly impact their communities. Get Engaged exposes students to a wide range of skills, ideas, and experiences to help them lead community-based projects, hone leadership styles, and network with international partners.
 
Students attending the conference have the opportunity to apply for microgrants to deepen their community projects, as well as apply to be Global Engagement Fellows – young leaders across the OSUN network that collaborate to improve and foster civic engagement movements on their home campus and across the globe.
 
120,000 Impacted by Student Projects So Far

More than 500 students have participated in the Get Engaged Conference over the years and a burgeoning alumni/ae network is taking shape, including the newly launched Get Engaged Alumni Speaker Series. Since the start of OSUN in 2020, Get Engaged student civic engagement projects have impacted approximately 120,000 people in over 50 countries. Even more projects that are supported by microgrants and Global Fellows increase this number exponentially.

In Berlin, each student prepared and delivered a presentation about their civic engagement project to fellow participants and also took part in a minimum of three workshops to enhance their knowledge and skills. Students self-selected a learning track designed to meet the needs of those just beginning to implement a project and those whose projects are more developed. Workshop themes ranged from conflict resolution and building partnerships to fundraising and storytelling.
 
Inspiring student projects addressed pressing challenges occurring across the globe. Nompumelelo Khoeli ’25, from the University of Witwatersrand, has been doing outreach in marginalized communities in South Africa that have low levels of college admission. Through her project, “Student A Day,” she’s seen firsthand that if young people aren’t able to see and experience what it’s like to be on a college campus, they can’t envision it as an option for their future. Faisal Popalzai ’25, from the American University of Afghanistan, joined the conference online due to travel restrictions. His project, “Afghan Female Education,” is combating an authoritarian environment by opening the door for young Afghan girls to continue their education online, despite the risk. In this year of critical elections across the globe, Sierra Ford ’26, from Bard College, runs “Election@Bard,” which works to safeguard the right to vote by registering students and community members and helping them learn about candidates.
 
Students also worked in teams for 1.5 days on an Ideas Incubator to develop potential solutions to pressing global issues, using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as a framework. Teams then pitched their vision of a collaborative cross-campus intervention to the students and faculty in attendance, backed by comparative research, and creative, solutions-based approaches. The winning team developed the "Global Educator Fellowship Program" focused on SDG 4, Quality Education, envisionining a better future through innovative teaching and learning. The team,  comprised of students from BRAC University, Ashesi University, the American University in Bulgaria, Tuskegee University, National Sun-Yat Sen University, Howard University, and Bard College, proposed working with educators around the world to help introduce and integrate lessons in health and hygiene, active citizenship, and cultural sensitivity and diversity. 

Student Reflections

Participating students completed a short anonymous survey at the end of the conference in which 100% agreed that the experience improved their ability to reflect, interrogate their own ideas, and absorb new ones. Similarly, all students responded that the conference helped them understand and appreciate diverse perspectives.
 
Students had very positive things to say about their experience in the post-conference survey:

“I have had the opportunity to meet so many young people who are passionate and want to take action. I feel like I am part of a community and I am not alone.”

“It opens your eyes to cultural differences that you could have never have expected and forces you to grow as a person and expand your versatility. I was also taught essential life skills from a new perspective that will allow me to be more prepared in complicated situations.”

“The conference really put into perspective my belief of what civic engagement means and how it transcends national boundaries.”

“I love how our sessions were interactive and got us to think and apply what we're learning already. It is so effective.”

Post Date: 07-01-2024